It has already been established that we are not alone in the universe, but what seems to not get through the minds of humanity is that we are not invulnerable to outer world attacks. I want you to ask yourself, what would you do if the world was under a great attack and how would you react to the opposition? This is the third installment to the Transformers movie storyline in Dark of the Moon. This time the battle has become far more greater than any of us could imagine!

The story takes place 3 years after the events of “Revenge of the Fallen”, everyone is under the impression that the Decepticons have given up and fled Earth. However the Autobots are no fools and know that the Megatron and his Decepticons are just laying low until its time to strike again. With Soundwave watching their every move, especially their operations with “NEST”. It is up to you to decide which side you want to win in the end, so choose wisely.

The game’s mechanics are similar to the “War for Cybertron” however with some added tweaks, like an enhanced vehicle mode which now has a much more powerful arsenal. This form of gameplay is a great tactic switching from vehicle and robot mode when encountering enemies. Gameplay also depends on which faction you play as, either Autobot or Decepticon, each give you different abilities. For example when you play as BumbleBee, he has a whirl melee attack whereas Soundwave has a sound burst attack. In campaign, there is unlimited ammo however you will have to reload on your own or let it reload automatically. Characters are able to switch between two weapon sets and two power sets as well as the classic melee attacks which can be chained together with your gun combos. Along with the melee attacks and gun combos, there are throwable items such as grenades and consumables to recharge your bot.

The world is vast, you will be able to explore different areas in the 18 different missions (7 chapters in total), where you will switch between Autobots and Decepticons. In the first 6 chapters you will switch between the two different forces, however the remaining chapter will be an Autobot only mission. The story starts off in South America and takes you to urban settings like Detroit. In the multiplayer, you have the chance to pick your class between warrior, commander, scout, or hunter. Similar to “War for Cybertron”, there is the ability to change your weapon sets to customize your own bots as well as picking characters that are not available in campaign like; Warpath, Air Raid, Shockwave, Crankcase, Ratchet, Sideswipe (DLC), Crowbar and Breakaway.

The story and gameplay work well together, however I would have liked the option of my own faction like prior titles. The choice to go through the whole story as either Autobot or Decepticon, would of been a nice feature as well as make the gameplay last longer. Having a co-op campaign would have been another option as well, the Transformers titles just screams for co-op especially since it worked in the previous titles. The fact that the missions end with Autobots, leaves players wanting an option to see the Decepticon’s ending. I know a lot of Decepticon fans would of like to see alternate versions like previous titles.

In the end “Transformers: Dark of the Moon” is a “RENTAL” within reason. The game is solid and works really well as a single player and multiplayer. The combat is very fun and easy to get into, plus makes it very challenging against A.I enemies as well as human competition. The fact that the combat switches from robot to vehicle action is amazing and brings in a whole new strategy while playing the game. However the campaign is too short and with the lack of co-op, leaves me wanting more. But if you REALLY want the game, I would suggest waiting for the price to be reasonable. The game is out now for the Xbox 360, Playstation 3, Nintendo Wii, 3DS and DS. I do hope you’ve enjoyed this review and be sure to check out Dark of the Moon next week in theaters June 29th, stay frosty gamers!